Decisions
by Bunny Sakuno
Summary: Sakuno had been ready to give it all away to make her aging grandmother happy until she found out who else was involved. Ryoma simply doesn't take rejection well. Or maybe there is more to it than that. RyoSaku.
1. Chapter 1

**Decisions**

By: Bunny

Rated: T

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Summary: Sakuno had been ready to give it all away to make her aging grandmother happy until she found out who else was involved. Ryoma simply doesn't take rejection well. Or maybe there is more to it than that. RyoSaku.

Oh and I MUST give a big shout out to **Cookie**, my beta reader, who began beta reading for me with this fanfic! I hope you all enjoy the improvements to having her help!

* * *

**Important Author's Notes:** The most important thing to know going into this story is that it starts out in early December of Ryoma and Sakuno's third year (senior year) of high school. So at the start of this fic they're both 17, just about to turn 18. In case you don't know, Ryoma's birthday is Dec 24, Sakuno's is Jan 14, so they're both very, very close to being 18 in early December of their last year of high school.

The other thing you may want to know in advance is that I use the Japanese word _miai_ in this fic. This is the Japanese equivalent to what most English speaking would refer to as an arranged marriage. The Japanese miai is not exactly a "forced" arranged marriage arrangement the way we would typically understand it though. It's more like matchmaking done by parents, grandparents or guardians. There's no particular obligation to get married, but there is a strong suggestion by the families for a marriage. Typically speaking either party may call a miai off at any time, but they do so at the expense of disappointing their families. The disapproval from the family at calling off a miai would have to do with each person's family ways and values, etc. Typically speaking young people being set up for a miai feel a strong obligation to please their parents/grandparents/guardians and at least meet with the suggested partner for them a few times and give it a real chance, so usually they don't shoot the idea down immediately. Since a miai is not exactly what most English speaking cultures would describe an arranged marriage as, I found it more appropriate to use the Japanese word since its description is simply more accurate. When I use the terms in this fic of either _arranged marriage_ or _miai_ I'm always going to be referring to the Japanese miai customs, not a forced arranged marriage situation.

I think that covers it! Now on with the fic...

* * *

It all started with an announcement.

"Your mother and I are making a request for you to have an arranged marriage meeting."

Echizen Ryoma looked up from his curry rice with a definitive grimace.

_It was always something with them._

His parents that is. First had been moving him around his whole life from Tokyo, to Los Angeles, to New York, back to Tokyo, back to New York, and finally back to Tokyo. Next had been pushing him into professional tennis as quickly as possible, which included traveling four times a year for the Grand Slam championships ever since he was 14. At least they'd left it at only forcing the big tournaments on him, and at least he hadn't gotten too famous yet, so he still had some semblance of a normal lifestyle. Make no mistake, he loved tennis and it was his life, but while still in school he was pretty sure he would have been content to play with his school team, and the All Japan team. His plan had been to wait until after high school graduation before pursuing going professional. Instead he'd spent the last few years going overseas for tournaments four times a year.

So much for his somewhat normal high school experience.

Those were just the big things...there were the little things too that came on a daily basis. Food he didn't like, naughty magazines thrust in his face by his old man, interviews for sports magazines, modeling here and there for some brand looking for a young tennis professional that was on the up and up.

Sometimes, he felt like the things they wanted him to do were endless.

_What about the things he wanted to do?_

He'd been really looking forward to turning eighteen in a few weeks. In Japan, he wasn't legally an adult until he was 20, but where he grew up in the United States, he would be legal at 18. After graduation, he planned on moving back to the USA for at least a couple of years. His hope being that it would mean getting out from under the heavy influence of his parents and making his own way in the world. Of course, so close to his birthday, they had to go and stick their noses into his business yet again.

On a _huge_ issue.

Moving and tennis were a big deal, but _marriage? _

That was _more than_ a big deal. Marriage was forever and a day. Marriage was...

Ryoma shook his head, "Yada."

Echizen Nanjiro slapped his son on the back forcefully, "Who said we were giving you a choice?"

Ryoma wanted to bang his head into the table, on repeat, until it was all over. The only reason he didn't was out of respect to his mother who would absolutely not tolerate that at her dinner table. Especially not when they were having an important family discussion.

So now it was a miai. What the hell.

_How did this happen?_

"Ryoma, we have concerns. You're almost eighteen and you've had the means to support your own family ever since you were fourteen."

"I'm still not old enough to get married," Ryoma quickly interjected.

She heaved a sigh that indicated he was trying her patience before she continued, "That's only a technicality this close to your 18th birthday. The point is that most young men that have money at your age already have a serious girlfriend with a view to marriage after high school, or at the very least are _dating._ You'll be old enough to get married in a few weeks and as far as we know, you've never even dated anybody."

Ryoma's eyes widened with realization.

Young he may be, but considering that he _could_ get married as soon as he turned eighteen and that he still hadn't _dated anybody _was bothering his parents. Okay...he supposed that was _kind-of valid_...but...to the point they felt they had to set up a marriage meeting? _Seriously?_ It still seemed extreme, even for his parents.

Not that he couldn't see the point they were making, (as loose of a point as it was) but he'd never in a million years have thought they would care so much, not while he was still so young. Maybe after he was 25 or 26, _maybe_...but...

He grabbed a potato out of his curry and shoved it in his mouth and chewed contemplatively for a minute. Something else was going on here. What was it?

Hmmmm.

_This was his old man's fault. _He just knew it somehow. His mother was probably worried that if he didn't get a serious girlfriend or get married now that he'd end up being a playboy like his old man had been before he'd met his mom. His old man wouldn't care about that, but seeing as how he'd been trying to force him to show more than a passive interest in pretty girls for half of his life, or maybe even longer than that, (thankfully he couldn't remember exactly) his old man must have thought that a miai would be hilarious and thusly put forth no resistance to the idea.

The good thing about arranged marriage meetings were that you could go to the meetings a few times and then bow out gracefully. The bad thing was he'd be forced to waste practice time on some stupid girl that he probably would have zero interest in.

_In fact, she'd probably drive him crazy._

Almost all girls drove him crazy. He couldn't actually think of anybody besides Ryuzaki that didn't make him want earplugs and blinders after about 3 minutes in their company. Girls were so annoying. Even worse was that most of them were just downright silly. They were constantly primping themselves up with makeup, or brushing their hair, or looking in mirrors. They laughed way too much, or they were too forceful and overbearing. They never talked about anything interesting like tennis, or cats, or video games, it was always shopping, or movies, or gossip. They would also try way too hard to impress him with things that he considered to not be too difficult, _such as cooking _or some other mundane task that he figured any simpleton could accomplish_._

_Ugh. How could he get out of this as quickly as possible?_

"We haven't even told you the best part," His father said with a tad bit too much glee in his tone.

Ryoma felt his stomach drop with dread and shoved a cooked carrot and some rice in his mouth.

_It was just never a good thing when his old man sounded that happy about something to do with him._

His mother sent him a wide smile of approval as she said, "It's Ryuzaki Sakuno."

_Well..._

He wasn't expecting _that._

Ryoma stopped chewing and gulped. He grabbed for his hot tea and took a swig of the warm liquid before he asked, "Sakuno's okay with this?"

* * *

At about the same time Ryuzaki Sakuno and her grandmother were similarly enjoying a nice meal as a family. Instead of being in their home though, the two of them were at a nice restaurant.

Sakuno knew that her dear grandmother had something important on her mind, since they only went out to eat on special occasions. She'd been racking her mind all evening on what it could be and still hadn't come up with anything. It wasn't anywhere near the anniversary of her parents' deaths. It wasn't anybody's birthday. It wasn't a holiday. Tennis season had been over for a couple of months. _What could it be?_

As the two of them began to eat their fruit tarts for dessert, Ryuzaki Sumire finally dropped the bomb on her granddaughter's head.

"I'm getting old, Sakuno."

Of all the things she could have said! Utterly shocked, Sakuno dropped her spoon as her heart started beating furiously with anxiety, "_What?"_

"Don't make me say it again."

"Grandma, I don't understand!? _Are you sick?" _

_Woah, was that really her voice coming out so high and squeaky?_

"Well, as you know my heart hasn't been good ever since you were in middle school," Her grandmother explained.

Well, yes...she had known that, but she'd kind of chosen not to think about it too much because it was depressing to think of losing her only family left. Besides, her grandmother had been doing just fine ever since the big scare they'd had years ago. She was still coaching at the middle school and led an active lifestyle. Sakuno hadn't thought for a moment her grandmother was thinking thoughts such as..._feeling old._

"Is it getting worse then?"

"I'm not sure, but I'm slowing down. I can tell."

"Don't worry Grandma, I'll take care of you," Sakuno sent a sweet smile across the table, hoping that would reassure her and end this bad topic.

Her grandmother shook her head at her, "Dear sweet girl. I don't want that fate for you at all. What I want is to see you safely settled."

Sakuno titled her head to the side and gave her grandmother a confused look. Settled. Safely _settled._ Right...

_Just what did she mean by that?_

Her grandmother let out a chuckle of delight, "You have no idea what I mean, do you?"

Sakuno bit her lip for a moment, kind-of feeling embarrassed that she didn't understand. Then she shook her head and waited for the explanation she knew was coming.

"I want to set up an arranged marriage meeting for you."

For the second time that night, Sakuno burst out with a shocked, "_What?"_

"The truth is, I'm going to be forced to retire. It will probably be sooner rather than later. I won't have enough income to continue to take care of you, and I don't want you to have to work and possibly support me as well."

Sakuno looked down at the table as she was suddenly overcome with sorrowful emotions.

_Grandma sounded so sad and resigned. It was breaking her heart._

"I'm not saying you _have_ to get married. I just want you to consider it seriously for my sake, okay? I'd really like to see you happily settled with a family so I'll know you won't be all alone when I'm gone."

Sakuno wiped a tear that escaped from her eye and sniffed, "Grandma..._please_ don't talk like that."

"Sakuno..."

Sakuno wiped another tear as it escaped from her other eye, and wondered if she'd need to excuse herself to go to the ladies' room.

"Please, just tell me you'll meet with him and try it. That's all I'm asking right now."

A miai. At her age? It was rare, but not unheard of. At least...she did understand her grandmother's reasons. She didn't like them, but if that was what Grandma wanted then...

Sakuno nodded her head as her heart broke, "Okay. I'll do it...for you."

_Why did it have to be like this?_

"Don't be so disheartened. I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised."

Sakuno's head shot up at that. _Grandma sounded really happy about this. _Maybe she'd actually found a really great family? Maybe he was a surgeon, or an heir, or something really impressive? Did Grandma really have contacts like that?

"It's Echizen Ryoma."

Sakuno's face instantly crumpled before she burst into tears.

"I can't do it!" She expressed brokenly as she stood up, tossed her napkin down on the table and rushed to the bathroom.

* * *

Okay...so here we go again. Starting on edits and posting of this fic FINALLY. The rough draft has been done for a couple of months, but I haven't really had time to work on it. I was editing chapter 19 of _It's Complicated_ today, and it still needs a lot of work, so I decided to have a look through this instead. I really wanted to start posting this story up because I have 3 WIPs, one of them (for the exchange) will have to be completed by the end of next month. So I'm going to get too far behind on posting if I don't kick it up a gear. So for now, I'm going to try to post up two stories at a time.

On that note...I'd love to hear your first impressions of this, though you all probably won't really figure out what's going on with this fic until chapter three, but I leave it to you all to let me know. Like most authors, artists, etc., feedback after all, encourages me more than anything else. :D

Also many thanks to all of you that have connected with me on Facebook, it's been really encouraging to have so many seek me out there to talk about my stories. ...hearts...

...sends out love and sparkles to you all...

xoxo Bunny


	2. Chapter 2

**Decisions**

By: Bunny

Rated: T

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Summary: Sakuno had been ready to give it all away to make her aging grandmother happy until she found out who else was involved. Ryoma simply doesn't take rejection well. Or maybe there is more to it than that. RyoSaku.

Oh and I MUST give a big shout out to **Cookie**, my beta reader, who began beta reading for me with this fanfic! I hope you all enjoy the improvements to having her help!

* * *

Chapter Two

* * *

Echizen Ryoma laid in bed the night his parents had informed him they were setting up an arranged marriage for him with Ryuzaki Sakuno thinking about this new change in his life.

_It really wasn't that bad._

Of all the girls he knew that he could have been stuck with, Ryuzaki was _easily_ the best. For that matter, of all the girls he didn't already know that were very likely even worse than the ones he did know, Ryuzaki would probably still be the best.

She wasn't annoying. She never pranced in front of him to try to get his attention the way the other girls did. She didn't call him Ryoma-sama, which was _a huge plus._ She enjoyed tennis and was always going to the matches, so if they got married she probably wouldn't have a problem traveling with him for his championships after graduation.

She was pretty in her own way, so he enjoyed looking at her, but she wouldn't be the burden that a really beautiful female would be in the way of other men vying for her attention all the time. The last thing he needed was to have some woman that he had to keep an eye on all the time to make sure she wasn't going to go off with some other guy. He'd always thought she was pretty though, and that was a requirement for a girlfriend, or wife, or whatever. He might not be Mr. Romance, but he had always thought that some level of attraction was important if he was going to start dating a girl. Ryuzaki was the only pretty girl he knew whose presence didn't make him irritated. Well, she was the only girl he knew that didn't make him irritated most of the time. There had been a few times when they were younger that she'd been slightly annoying, but as they'd gotten to know each other more over the years, she'd become accustomed to the things he liked and the things he didn't like and had treated him the way he wanted to be treated.

Well...now..._that was actually kind-of amazing._ Nobody else he knew had ever gotten to know him so well and changed for him. Now that he was thinking about it, her friendship and loyal support had come to be something he relied on in his life...

Honestly, he'd always _kind-of_ liked her _a little._ He just hadn't really thought about it much.

She was slightly younger than he was, which was also important. He never wanted a girl that was older than him, even if it was a few months he'd always felt like something like that would make him feel like less of a man.

She'd always put up with his teasing admirably. He had to admit to himself that he'd sought her company out on many occasion simply to see how cute she acted when he teased her.

She was a good cook, although he'd never been too concerned with that, figuring he could learn how to cook for himself as soon as he was out of his parents' house. Not having to bother with that because he was married, well there was another plus.

Best of all, Ryuzaki Sakuno wasn't pushy like most girls, and she respected his privacy. All in all, she would probably work out quite well as his wife.

In fact, now that he was seriously thinking about it...

It was a wonder he hadn't thought of it himself sooner! After all, he was a really smart guy and he had always prided himself on noticing good things. Maybe if he hadn't been so wrapped up in tennis something or other 24/7/365 he would have pursued her without his parents suggesting it. So all in all, the fact he hadn't yet was his parents' fault for sticking him in the pro tennis circuit when he was 14 and making him too busy trying to perfect his tennis to take the time to hang out with her more. _So there, he would have chosen Ryuzaki anyway._

Arranged marriage? Naw...it would have happened on it's own without that. Sakuno was the only girl for him, it was so obvious he felt a little stupid for not doing something about it until now. What if he'd gone and moved back the USA and she'd gotten a boyfriend and he hadn't even heard about it in time to stop her? Well...he couldn't imagine them not staying in touch no matter where he lived since she'd always been great about emailing him when he'd been away...

He'd always taken the time to reply to her too, which should have made him realize sooner that he _liked_ her. He hadn't even responded to most of the others that emailed him when he was away, or at the very least, not as frequently.

Ryuzaki Sakuno would be his wife. He didn't want to admit it to his interfering parents that they'd actually done something good for once, but...

He couldn't help but be kind of happy.

Satisfied with his future, he rolled over and contented himself with sleeping.

* * *

Sakuno and her grandmother made the drive home in silence after her outburst at the restaurant. She fidgeted her hands together worriedly the whole ride, wondering what her grandmother must be thinking. She must be _so disappointed_ in her right now. It made her feel all sorts of unhappy and uncomfortable.

Not to mention she'd gone and had an outburst in public. Just double her embarrassment...seriously.

It wasn't that she never did embarrassing things like that...and she noted with a level of irritation that when she did cause a scene in public it was always somehow related to the cocky tennis prince. It was just that...she didn't usually cause scenes in public, especially not as she had gotten older. Or at least she'd thought she'd grown up and thus outgrown embarrassing outbursts in public. She'd thought in her ripe old age of almost eighteen that she had more control over her emotions, especially with regards to Ryoma-kun.

_What was Grandma thinking?_ Setting up a miai for her with _Ryoma-kun_ of all people? Did she not know how much that would hurt her?! Oh and what was Ryoma-kun thinking about all this? She dreaded the very thought. Surely, he would be thinking she was some sort of pathetic female that couldn't get a guy to notice her without her family getting involved and pulling the obligation card. That was beyond embarrassing, especially since it was Ryoma-kun. Yet, at the same time she was happy it was Ryoma-kun, because he was so uninterested in these things that she could at least count on him to really not care about all of this. It wouldn't spread around the school like wildfire, thusly embarrassing her for the rest of her high school life.

_Small favors...she was grateful for them._

Really though...Ryoma-kun? _Ryoma-kun? _The one boy on earth that was...

As they entered through the front door, Sakuno's need to explain herself finally reached it's breaking point.

"It's...it's Ryoma-kun. I can't do it."

"What do you mean, dear?"

Ugh...she was still really upset about it. She planted her face in her hands and choked back a sob, "I..it's just...I can't do it if it's Ryoma-kun."

"Oh, but _I thought you liked him? _I talked with Nanjiro and Rinko _first_ because you like him. _Don't you like him?!"_

Sakuno shook her head back and forth, continuing to keep her face covered as she felt herself flush with embarrassment. She was really going to have to spell this out for her grandmother, wasn't she? She would never live this down. The words would be out, she would say them and she could never take them back after this. After this...her grandmother _would know._

Of course she liked Ryoma-kun! She'd been as good as in love with him since the day she'd met him when she was twelve. That was why...

"I...I can't..._because I like him."_

Removing her hands from her face, Sakuno looked her grandmother in the eyes and with all seriousness and depression at her circumstances, she laid it all out, "I can't be with Ryoma-kun like that because I like him. I can't do it to him. I can't be happy if I know he was forced, or pushed, or I just...I can't. Anybody else, I could do it. I could do it for you. I can try, but I can't if it's Ryoma-kun. Please Grandma, you have to understand. I can't do this if it's Ryoma-kun."

Understanding dawned on the older woman's features.

So her affections for that cocky tennis prince were that deep. She was honestly a little bit surprised. She'd been betting on Sakuno being excited about a miai with Echizen Ryoma. They were old friends, he was a good looking boy, and he would easily be able to support Sakuno financially. In addition to that, the poor boy was so romantically challenged she'd thought it was going to be the best way to make her granddaughter's wishes with him come true. She'd never imagined that she wouldn't accept him if it wasn't...

_My, but what a pure heart her little granddaughter has._

She moved forward and wrapped her arms around Sakuno giving her a big hug, "I understand. I'm sorry, I should have talked with you before I talked with Nanjiro and Rinko. I wanted to surprise you because I thought you would be excited to be with Ryoma. I had no idea your affections for him ran so deep. Shall we call it all off then so you can try to pursue him?"

Sakuno shook her head as big silent tears poured out of her eyes, "Grandma..."

Oh, and now that her big secret was out, she had someone to talk with about it, but it made her heartbreak all the more real. She grabbed the arms surrounding her and added brokenly, "It's hopeless. Ryoma-kun and I..." She shook her head sadly, "It won't ever happen. We've had years, and he's the same as when we were twelve."

She rubbed her face against Sumire's sleeve to wipe her tears away and gave a little sniffle before she said with more bravery than she really felt, "If you have someone else you want me to try with, I'll try for you. I don't want you to be burdened with worrying about me if you're sick. I will try to settle."

Sumire gave a big sigh, "I'll call around. Echizen was of course, my first choice for you, not only because he can support you already, and you're close in age and well suited in my opinion, but also because he comes from a good family that are old friends of mine. If you don't want him though, then you don't want him. Some of the older boys might be available. I'll see if Tezuka, or Fuji, or Kawamura are still single. I think Fuji's family is putting him through med school, so that should be a secure future for you. Kawamura has the sushi shop. I'm not sure what Tezuka is up to, but he's such a smart young man, I'm sure it's something good."

_She was blabbering..._

Catching herself, Sumire stopped and gave Sakuno a soothing pat on her back. "Why don't you go ahead and go to bed. I'll take care of everything, okay? Don't worry about Ryoma."

Sakuno gave a nod and headed up to her room. Flopping face down on her pillow she bawled her eyes out like she'd never bawled before.

It was official..._her life was over._

* * *

Early the next morning Ryuzaki Sumire picked up her telephone and dialed the Echizen house.

"Ah! Old hag! Good morning! The young man is in for the miai. Pretty soon, we'll be family! HAHAHAHA," Echizen Nanjiro greeted his old coach with enthusiasm.

"He is?"

As Nanjiro waxed enthusiastic for a few minutes about how great it was that Ryoma hadn't resisted as soon as he'd found out it was Sakuno, Sumire was lost in her thoughts. She was actually a little surprised that Ryoma hadn't given his parents some resistance. Which meant, he either liked Sakuno at least a little bit, as she'd suspected from the day the two had met, or...he really didn't care about these things, as his parents suspected. It made her bad news all the worse to deliver. With a heavy heart she informed her old friend of the current situation, "Nanjiro...Sakuno said no."

"Oh. Well, I was a little worried about that. I should have known it was too good to be true. That kid of mine is such a brick wall, and Sakuno-chan knows him well enough to know what she'd be getting into. He's never going to get married now, you know that right? Rinko is going to be devastated. Sakuno-chan was our only hope! I mean really, what girl would want him, am I right?"

"Well, we all thought they would make a good match, and I still think they would, but it's Sakuno's life. There's a limit to how much I'm willing to push her on this."

"I understand. I want little Sakuno-chan to be happy too. I was hoping we would be good enough, but..." Nanjiro let out a bit of a sigh, "Well, let us know if she changes her mind. You know Rinko and I would love to have her be part of our family officially, but don't worry old lady, we'll look after her as if she was our own no matter what."

Sumire laughed, "Well, thanks for that."

"What are old friends for, right?"

"Right."

"Besides, we both love little Sakuno-chan. I have a feeling the young man has a bit of a soft spot for her as well, well...in his own way that is. But what can we do? If she doesn't want him, she doesn't want him. I'd better go tell Ryoma before he gets some idea in his head that it's as good as done and says something thoughtless to Sakuno-chan or their classmates."

Sumire laughed again, "He would do that. That's probably for the best."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

As Echizen Nanjiro turned his phone off, he stared hard at it for a few minutes in contemplative silence. With a frown, he made his way upstairs to his son's room.

Thumping on the door he called through, "Ne...Seishounen! The old hag says Sakuno-chan doesn't want you, so forget about the miai for now. Try to get a girlfriend before we get asked again if you don't want us to set you up with another girl!"

After delivering his message he quickly left and made his way up to the temple tennis court. He suddenly had the urge smash a few tennis balls so hard they would stick into the court's dirt surface. He was pretty sure his brat liked the Ryuzaki girl, but before it even started, he'd managed to blow it.

Ryoma woke with a start at his old man's message.

_Ryuzaki didn't want him?_

What the hell?

_Was he not good enough?_

Did she find some other guy she liked more than him? Did he make more money? Was he smarter? Was he older? Was he...gulp...better at tennis?

No...that last one at least wasn't possible. The only person Ryuzaki knew that was better than him at tennis was his old man, and his old man wasn't exactly available.

Just who did she think she was? Setting up an arranged marriage and then deciding she didn't want him?

_Absolutely not acceptable._

Especially since he'd just figured out she would be perfect for him.

* * *

Well, here's chapter two for you all. Are you surprised? :3

Thank you so much everybody for the big welcome on this fanfic. I'm so thrilled to already have over 30 story followers and to have received so many favorites and reviews already as well. xoxoxo ~ sends sparkles and kisses to you all ~

Thank you to everybody that left a review for chapter one: **JC-zala, cloudgoddess, asuna11, Bandana Bandit, twerking4u, SoshiGee, thegrandprincessofdarkness, Cookie, shajira, yukina-chan15, SaKuRiMo0n, a, Meadow Wood, SinfulEmerald, lovefanfic4ever, J Luc Pitard, Jasmini, michelle88222, MTCR'1-MR.2-ID.3-MI.4-VA, Tnt24tryon, lechat23, Hinate, ILoveSxS, **and **knightofangst.**

**JC-zala - **Thank you for bringing out the information on arranged marriages, it's all very true and where I got the idea of this. I did put a wonk spin on the idea, so we'll see what everybody thinks of how it all plays out. :D Thank you for the support! xoxo

**cloudgoddess - **Yes, there are some opposite reactions in this than what we'd really expect. I hope it makes for a good read for everybody. XD

**asuna11 - **Hi my facebook friend! :3 I can't really answer your questions without giving you spoilers, but I'm really happy you're so excited for all my stories! I was able to update this after all my worries that I couldn't do it! Yay! :D

**Bandana Bandit - **I'm so happy Sakuno made you laugh and that you love it so far. Thank you so much!

**twerking4u - **This story is very different from my other fanfics...I think so anyway, and in a good way...I think. :3 I am excited to hear your insights as we get more into the plot and you start putting things together. :D xoxo

**SoshiGee - **Yes...this is my latest completed work, it's been done for a while, but I haven't had time to edit it because of It's Complicated edits. I'm writing too many stories right now though to only post up one, so I'm kicking it into high gear to keep caught up with how much I'm writing. :D Well...I hope this fic doesn't disappoint you...

**thegrandprincessofdarkness - **Yay! I'm so happy to hear it!

**Cookie - ***SQUEALS* I am NEVER going to forget that you said this is your fave of all my stories. I hope it lives up to this high standard for everybody else. I'm so excited. xoxoxo ILY :D

**shajira - **Thanks for the support for It's Complicated and this one too. I hope Ryoma doesn't get OOC...I always try really hard to keep RyoSaku (and everybody else) in character when I write...according to the actual series (not fandom opinions on their personalities.) In this story...Ryoma is definitely NOT being forced into anything...in fact...you'll see it's going to play out very differently than anybody is probably expecting it to just yet. :)

**yukina-chan15 - **Yay for being my friend on facebook! :D Say hi to me on there so time. -_- So happy to hear you like this story so much already and that Ryoma has a POV. xoxo

**SaKuRiMo0n - **I'm so happy to hear the story surprised you. I love surprising my readers by being unpredictable. :3

**a - **Hello my friend! So good to see your name pop up here in my reviews. :D I hope you're doing well. I'm happy you like this story and It's Complicated so much! Take care! xoxoxo

**Meadow Wood - **a;lsdfkja;osidjfaisodnvalsdif;kashdfoiqwenkadsln;! For reals. I don't think I've been so completely inspired before. Your review was so up there on best reviews ever and for all the reasons of all of it. There was so much said...and it was all so wonderful, and made me so very, very happy. I can't even tell you how much of a thrill it was to me to hear your thoughts on all my stories, especially saying that "It's Complicated" is how you found me and that you loved it so much that you had to read my other stuff. I'm just so amazed and thrilled. Thank you a million times for sharing all your wonderful thoughts with me. xoxoxoxoxoxo

**SinfulEmerald - **You're so supportive, I love it so much. Well...I think you will be surprised how this plot develops...BUT Cookie (my beta reader) told me a couple of weeks ago that this story is her fave of all my stories, and she's read them all (even the unfinished ones that I'm currently writing) so I hope everybody else loves it lots and lots too. ...hearts...

**lovefanfic4ever - **Awww. Thank you for loving all my stories. ILY. xoxo

**J Luc Pitard - **I'm so happy to hear that, thank you for sharing!

**Jasmini - **heheh! Your enthusiasm got me so excited! I can't wait for you to be able to read it all as well! Yay! There is A LOT that goes on in this fic, but I think everybody will be pleasantly (I hope) surprised with how it all happens.

**michelle88222 - **Thank you so much for the support!

**MTCR'1-MR.2-ID.3-MI.4-VA - **Thank you! I hope you enjoyed chapter 2 as well.

**Tnt24tryon - **I do post a lot of RyoSaku, because I love them so much. I haven't really done writing for any other fandom for a while, even though I have a RuroKen story that's really old that I need to finish. Thank you for saying they're novel worthy. :3 Being a writer would probably be kind of awesome, but I definitely would have a long way to go still before I was good enough for any of that. Still, thank you all the same for saying so. It made me happy to hear it. xoxo

**lechat23 - **Arranged marriages still happen all the time, just not so much in the USA. They're more of a cultural thing. Still, I know a few people off the top of my head that have been/are in arranged marriages.

**Hinate - **I'm so happy you like the story so much already. Yeah...Sakuno is a cutie pie. :D Ryoma called her Sakuno for the first time in chapter 1 actually...he just changed over because his parents said they were now engaged. Muahahaha. :3 It's been great talking with you on FB too. Let's catch up soon! xoxo

**ILoveSxS - **Yay! ILY xoxo

**knightofangst **- I hope this chapter answered your question. ;D

* * *

Okay everybody see you on chapter 3...where Ryoma and Sakuno finally have their first encounter in this fic. ...hearts...

xoxo ~ Bunny


	3. Chapter 3

**Decisions**

By: Bunny

Rated: T

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Summary: Sakuno had been ready to give it all away to make her aging Grandmother happy until she found out who else was involved. Ryoma simply doesn't take rejection well. Or maybe there is more to it than that. RyoSaku.

Oh and I MUST give a big shout out to **Cookie**, my beta reader, who began beta reading for me with this fanfic! I hope you all enjoy the improvements to having her help!

* * *

Chapter Three

* * *

On Monday morning, Ryuzaki Sakuno had the surprise of her life.

Waking up early as was her custom, she got dressed, ate breakfast, and headed out in the cool, crisp winter air on her usual walk towards her high school. High school was almost over and she could barely believe it. When had she gotten so old? Where had the time gone? The serious talks she'd had with her grandmother that weekend about marriage got her thinking seriously about her future more than ever.

She'd been kind-of putting thinking about her future off, simply because she didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. Career? She had no idea. Marriage? Well, it was true that like most girls she had a dream about falling in love, getting married to a real prince and living happily ever after. She'd loved Ryoma-kun for years, so she'd thought about what it would be like to be with him, but...marriage was something she viewed as _far off._ It was definitely on her list of things she wanted for her future, just...maybe not yet. Still, despite _wanting_ romance, and marriage...here she was, roughly a month before turning eighteen, _and hadn't even had a boyfriend yet._

In fact, her love life was so pathetic that her grandmother was getting involved and trying to set her up with someone for an arranged marriage.

And oh...now that she'd gone and turned down Ryoma-kun, who would she end up with?

Ryoma-kun, for all intents and purposes, _would be_ her first choice. Her prince. Her tennis prince. She could watch him forever. He never bored her, he never failed to impress her. He was very loyal, and had always been a perfect gentleman to her.

But...he was also the root of her problem. She'd been so in love with him the past six years, she hadn't tried to date other boys. She'd been hoping so furiously that Ryoma-kun would notice her someday that she hadn't even so much as _looked_ at other boys. A few boys had confessed to her over the years, but she'd always politely turned them down, telling them her heart was already with someone else. Now, she was kind-of feeling like maybe she shouldn't have been so hasty to dismiss them.

After all, if she had a boyfriend right now, or maybe even if she'd at least had one or two in the past, Grandma wouldn't be so worried about her ending up alone. If she had _a serious boyfriend_ right now, maybe she would actually happily be planning on being a young bride and know exactly what she was going to do with her life. Instead, just before she turns eighteen her grandmother says she wants to set her up for a miai!? Of all the things _she didn't_ think she would ever deal with in her life, a miai was in the top five, maybe even the top three.

Of course, it wasn't exactly a complete obligation. Even if Grandma found someone for her to consider seriously, if she felt like it wouldn't work out, she could always back out of it. Or who knew? Maybe the guy would back out of it. Sakuno shivered at the thought of Tezuka-senpai or Fuji-senpai as Grandma had mentioned the other night. Kawamura-senpai might be okay, he was warm and friendly, and working in the sushi shop with him would probably be a simple and content life.

Still, thinking of marrying _any_ of the boys that had been on the tennis team with Ryoma-kun was...

Well, it was...

She yanked on a bare thin tree branch that was hanging down over the sidewalk and watched in satisfaction as it snapped back into place when she let it go. It sprayed droplets of water into the air that caught the morning sunbeams as they scattered around her. She shivered slightly at the cool touch of the few drops that hit her exposed flesh on her face and hands.

It was rather cold that morning. Perhaps she should have brought some gloves? She lamented not having pockets in her school uniform like some of the schools did, because then at least she could stuff her hands into her pockets to warm up.

Well...whatever. It wasn't _that_ cold. Winter in Tokyo was approaching, but it wasn't exactly glove wearing weather just yet. She probably wouldn't even be noticing if she hadn't been horsing around with bare wet tree branches spraying freezing cold droplets of water at her.

It was just that she needed to do something to vent out...

Her thoughts were startled as her right hand was suddenly grabbed from behind.

_OH NO._

As she turned towards her attacker, she was met with warm hazel eyes staring down at her. Feeling instant relief, an involuntary smile broke out over her soft features.

"Good morning Ryoma-kun," She greeted.

"Sakuno," Ryoma greeted back.

Sakuno raised both eyebrows at his familiar address and then looked down pointedly at the hand Ryoma was still holding.

_Weird._

"Why is Ryoma-kun holding my hand?" She asked.

He stopped walking then, and with a tug on their joined hands, jerked her to a stop as well. Closing the small distance between them he dropped his face down so it was a scant inch away from hers, and said lowly, "I hear you don't want to marry me."

_He didn't! _

He didn't just...just...he didn't just say that! Sakuno flushed red and yanked her hand free while chastising, "Ryoma-kun!"

"What? You didn't think I would hear about it? First my parents are telling me we're going to be planning a wedding, and the next morning my old man says you don't want me."

Sakuno took a step back, putting some distance between them and said, "I'm sorry Ryoma-kun. You know I didn't even know Grandma had talked to your parents until it was too late. I-"

"Hey," He interrupted.

Sakuno stopped her explanations and blinked up at him wondering why he cut off her speech.

He stepped forward, closing the distance between them again and said boldly, "Don't think you can get out of it so easily."

"W-w-wha-what?" She sputtered back, completely shocked at the way he was talking to her.

He grabbed her left hand then and wrapped it up between both of his hands. She felt his body heat warming her up from her fingertips where he was touching her and it spread through her like a large gulp of tea that was at that scalding temperature of too hot to be drinking yet. "_We're getting married," _He calmly informed her quite matter of factly.

"No! We're not!" Sakuno denied quickly as her thoughts spun around. _What exactly was happening here?_

Ryoma gave her a suspicious look then, and kept a fast hold on her hand that she was trying to tug free, "Do you have someone else?"

Sakuno's eyes widened, "No! I don't! It's not that."

"So why won't you marry me?"

Was this some kind of game he thought he was playing? She did know that Ryoma-kun liked to tease her on occasion, and over the years she had played along, finding it diverting in the good way that comes from having the attention of the person holding your affections. Right now though? This whole miai - not getting out of it - why won't you marry me teasing? It was way over the line. _She was completely not amused._

"Ryoma-kun, don't be ridiculous."

His mouth quirked up on the side as he said, "I have enough money, from tennis already. We could get a house in the US as soon as I turn eighteen, tour the world on the ATP for a few years, have some kids, move into the temple here or something like that after I retire."

Sakuno's jaw dropped open in surprise. Were her ears deceiving her or was he trying to talk her into this? Did _The Echizen Ryoma_ seriously just lay out a life plan for them to her? _He'd really seriously thought about it, hadn't he?_

But why was he saying these things _now?_ He'd had almost six years to make a move!

Oh, but then...

He hadn't actually just said anything about _liking _her. _She couldn't get wrapped up in this. _Whatever _it _was...

Ryoma-kun was not supposed to be fighting her about this! He was supposed to be relieved that he wasn't being pushed into a miai and he was supposed to forget all about it. She certainly had never expected that he would talk about it with her!

Sakuno shook her head and pulled her hand down trying to escape Ryoma's grasp with a bit more vigour, "It's not happening, Ryoma-kun. I'm sorry you got the wrong idea."

"There's nothing wrong with this idea. Aren't you listening to me?" He quickly responded back.

Sakuno felt like she wanted to cry tears of frustration. She would never marry him unless he was completely crazy in love with her! Didn't he get it? _He was so dense sometimes! _

"I said _no_, Ryoma-kun!"

His eyes darkened as he said lowly, "_Why _don't you want to marry me?"

Sakuno braced her feet apart and pulled her hand down again with all her might. He effortlessly held her in place and squeezed her hand back in response.

_When did he get so strong?_

Drops gathered at the corners of her eyes, waiting to be released as she said heatedly, "I just don't want to, okay?"

This was so unreal! Sure Ryoma-kun and her had become more and more comfortable with each other and developed a good friendship over the last six years, but they'd never had a fight before. He'd never talked with her this much before, let alone so frankly, even when they'd spent whole days together. He'd never tried to talk her into anything before, and he'd _certainly never_ addressed her by her given name before.

_Honestly! What did he care if she didn't want to marry him?_

Not like that was the truth anyway, but it wasn't like she was going to flat out tell him she wasn't going to marry him in an arranged marriage because she was in love with him!

How had her life ended up like this? Really? How?

"No. It's not okay."

Sakuno stopped struggling and looked up at him once again with surprised eyes. She blinked. No...he was still there...this wasn't a weird dream.

"I want to marry you."

Sakuno was pretty sure she blacked out there for a few seconds. Had she seriously just heard Echizen Ryoma say that he _wanted_ to marry her? _Her? _With Ryoma-kun..._married? _Years ago, when she'd first fallen in love with him and had high hopes, she'd dreamed of something like this. That had been when she was still young though. As the two of them had grown older, and older, and older still...and Ryoma-kun had continued to show no more than a passive interest in her, she'd given up. The last thing she thought she'd ever hear him say to her was that _he wanted to marry her._

There was just no way he meant that. _If he really liked her...surely something would have happened before now. _Something else must be...

Really. Just wait a minute. Why was he making such a big deal out of this _now?_ Honestly, she was more than just a little bit shocked! She felt like it wasn't like him to even think about these types of things, let alone talk about them. Let alone talk about them with _a girl. _Though, granted, if he was going to talk about something with a girl that wasn't part of his family, and the subject matter wasn't tennis, it would probably be her, since she was probably the closest female to him that he wasn't related to, but still...

What a _weird_ week this was becoming...

The worst of it was that the part of her that wasn't shocked and flabbergasted, was kind-of busy hyperventilating with excitement at his words. She didn't know if she should be happy or worried that even though she knew better there was this traitorous part of her that was giddily exclaiming over and over in her mind: _Ryoma-kun wants to marry me! _

Then he went and opened his mouth again.

"You're the only girl that doesn't annoy me to death, and you're pretty enough. I thought about it. It has to be you, so we're getting married. I don't care what my parents or the coach says, _I'm telling you,_ I'm not letting you out of this miai."

Sakuno's jaw dropped.

She knew it. She just knew it, damn it.

That this was too good to be true. _The only girl that doesn't annoy him? Pretty enough? _What the _hell_ kind of a marriage proposal was that? Her eyes narrowed warningly, "Ryoma-kun. I said no. _I meant it._ I'm _not_ going to marry you!"

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to!"

He shifted his weight and looked uncomfortable for a second, "Am I not good enough?"

His question gave Sakuno pause, and she suddenly felt bad for rejecting him so bluntly. When all was said and done neither of them had any dating experience. Maybe she was hurting his feelings a little bit, being so hostile about this with him. Take everything else away, and he was still her friend. He deserved better than this from her, didn't he?

"It's not that," She said softly.

"So what is it? You don't like me? You don't think I look good?"

Sakuno blushed. Leave it to Ryoma-kun to be so blunt about things like this! She shook her head, "It's nothing like that."

"So...you don't want to be married to a professional tennis player then?"

Sakuno shook her head quickly that time, "Ryoma-kun, your tennis is amazing and I love watching you play. _I will always support you."_

"So then what is it? Why don't you want to marry me?"

Sakuno's face heated up once again at his forward questions.

_Why couldn't he just let it go?_

"It's...it's a secret."

Ryoma's eyes dropped into an irritated scowl at that. He shook her hand between his hands and said in a tone that conveyed he was completely unimpressed, "A secret."

A long pause stretched between them and then he added, "Not good enough, Sakuno. If you want out of this miai..._I at least deserve a reason."_

_Was he really going to continue to address her by her given name like that? _That was probably going to become a big problem, really quickly. She should really yell at him about it. If they weren't talking about a much more serious issue, she would have, but the thing was...

Sakuno shifted her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably. He was really putting her on the spot, and insisting on this, and she just didn't know what to do with him! She didn't even know he could act this way! Well...granted, she'd seen him give issuing a tennis challenge his dogged determination and persistence before, but she never fathomed that it could reach into any other part of his life.

_As always, Ryoma-kun was full of surprises._

She nervously whirled her one long braid around with her right hand that was the one free from Ryoma's hold and said, "It's just...I just don't want to marry you under these circumstances, okay? Please Ryoma-kun, just forget that we had an arranged marriage? _Please?"_

Ryoma being the smart man that he is zeroed in on the important tell in her speech, "So what circumstances _would_ you marry me under?"

Sakuno's jaw dropped yet again with surprise, "Ryoma-kun!"

He stared blankly at her, keeping a firm grasp on her left hand, waiting for her to reply despite her protests.

_He was so stubborn! Who could fight against it?_

Giving a huff of frustration Sakuno confessed, "Well, think about it. Any girl would marry any guy if she was in love with him, right?"

Sharp as usual Ryoma said, "So all I have to do is make you love me?"

"Ryoma-kun! You make it sound so simple!"

"It is simple. So, if you love me, you'll marry me?"

Sakuno stomped her foot and tried once again to jerk her left hand free, "I didn't say that!"

"Yes you did. You just said that."

"You're twisting my words."

"I don't think so," Ryoma tugged her forward by pulling her hand he was still holding hostage in close to his body.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to make you love me, and then we're getting married."

Sakuno looked up at Ryoma with an incredulous look, "Don't joke with me."

"I would never joke about getting married."

Sakuno's heart thumped in response, "Grandma is setting up a miai with someone else."

"Tell her no. You will be _my bride,_ Sakuno."

Sakuno flushed thoroughly at his words. Did he really just say that? So seriously? The fight left Sakuno's body then. Mentally exhausted, she dropped her head against his chest and marveled at how he quickly wrapped his arms around her smaller frame, comforting her.

_This was just so..._

"Ryoma-kun..."

"Hn."

_Unacceptable._

"I said no." With that, she pushed away from him with all the force in her little body and took off sprinting down the street towards their school, her long braids flying out behind her.

Ryoma stood there in shock for a minute watching the young woman that was in his arms a moment ago tear down the street at her full speed. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched her and mused to himself that it was surprising that she hadn't tripped over yet. She was clumsy like that after all. He always had to take care of her. His Sakuno...

Wait a minute. She was running away from him after he told her he wanted to marry her. That hadn't been part of the plan!

_What the hell?_

Why couldn't she just marry him? Did she really dislike him that much? She said it wasn't that, right? So what was her problem?

* * *

Everybody so sorry for my long hiatus on updates. I got pneumonia and I've been too feverish to work on my stories all month. I'm almost better now, so expect regular updates again going forward. (And another fanfic or two, or three. LOL.)

xoxo ~ Bunny

Thank you to all you that reviewed chapter two: **cityangelz, Unokahel, ShadyKit, heartluv, lovefanfic4ever, LolaTheSa, NanamiYatsumaki, twerking4u, foureyesfreak27, Abstract Obsessions, SinfulEmerald, J Luc Pitard, shajira, 1tennisplayer, JC-zala, yana19, Hinate, SoshiGee, Cookie, Lady Light, michelle88222, asuna11, Kurosaki Razhel, yukina-chan15, lechat23, silverstargazer, **and** ILoveSxS**

******cityangelz -** XD So awesome that it makes you so happy. I giggled. A lot. :D

****** Unokahel -** Yes, Ryoma gives the serious issue some serious thought. It just made sense to me that he would think about something serious like marriage very seriously and not just dismiss it right away, especially if it was to someone he'd known for 6 years like Sakuno. Yeah, I do tend to write Sakuno with more of a backbone when she's older, because with age and maturity comes things like backbone. Younger people, especially girls tend towards more silly things than older girls do you know. Not always of course, but hopefully you get what I mean. Lol :D (Like comparatively with IC where she's 13-16 and a bit sillier, more naive, more dense and all those lovely things that age group is more prone towards.)

******ShadyKit -** Wow such wonderful compliments. Fave published authors? hahah, I'm so unworthy of comparison it's ridiculous. I'm forever mada mada with writing. :T It's so sweet of you to think and say otherwise though, really I'm super flattered and I'm going to just...not be a silly girl and let that go to my head. ^^ lol :D xoxo

******heartluv -** Yes, he better charm her to death. hehehe

****** lovefanfic4ever -** Lol...poor Sakuno indeed. Sometimes, I kind of feel for her. Lol. hehe.

******LolaTheSa -** ROFL!

******NanamiYatsumaki -** He's definitely got plans. :D

******twerking4u -** If I haven't told you lately that I love you, I must tell you how much I love you. You totally got everything I'm trying to go for with this story so far. ...big grin... There is something really wonderful about being understood as an author. :3 I couldn't agree with you more. I also think if you really love someone, their happiness comes before your own. I also think that Sakuno is the kind of girl that would try to protect the ones she loves from some kind of obligation on something like marriage. :D Love it that you just so got all of that wonderfulness. xoxo

******foureyesfreak27 -** Ryoma definitely can't take no for an answer. The cocky little brat. ROFL. XD

******Abstract Obsessions** - I'm back to normal updates now. :D Hehehe and so happy that you're so excited to read my humble little stories, even after being up all night. ILY. xoxo

******SinfulEmerald -** Lol...boys will be boys...so yeah lol...of course he thought about that stuff. Muahaha. And just ROFL! You kill me, you're so funny. XD "I SQUEALED. OUT LOUD. THIS RYOMA IS SO ADORABLE! I LIKE HIM BETTER THAN IT'S COMPLICATED!RYOMA LAWLS." Now you get big glomps for that. ...glomps and huggles you and squeals a lot... :D Thank you for saying you're enjoying this story so much already. :D It's kind of funny hearing my stories compared when they're so different, but it's kind of cool too. :D ILY xoxo

******J Luc Pitard -** Yes...Ryoma needs to be rejected sometimes...lol. ;D I agree about those boys. Kawamura especially seems like such a solid husband candidate. I guess we'll see what happens. :3

******shajira -** Awww so much love for saying this is perfect! ...hearts... There's...a lot that will happen in this fic. Can't really expand more than that without spoiling it, but there are 23 chapters total, so there's a lot coming. "Anyway, I trust your characterization of Ryoma-kun. There aren't many writers who can portray him well, and you just happen to be the best in this area. I soooo love Bunny's Ryoma-kun :D" OMG ILY so much. Thank you a million for this. I have no words for how awesome it is that you said that. xoxo

******1tennisplayer -** Thank you so much. :D

******JC-zala -** Thank you so much for understanding where Sakuno was at with her thoughts. I just love it when my readers get the point. :D Yes...Coach Ryuzaki is super awesome grannykins that she is. :) Ryoma's pride took a huge hit indeed! Muahahahaha...bwahahahahaa...yes this gives me a sick pleasure. BUAWAHAHAHAHAA. ) A woman's heart...a very, very complex thing indeed. Even I feel like I learn more about it everyday...which is amazing.

******yana19 -** Thank you for saying the story idea is original. That means a lot, because I really aimed for it to be different from your typical "arranged marriage" story. The arranged marriage serving more as a catalyst than as some kind of forced obligation that is accept later as the best thing. I love it so much that you said it's refreshing. XD

******Hinate -** RyoSaku love forever. :D You already know the rest so...lol. XD Spoiled, spoiled Hina.

******SoshiGee -** Keep myself from kissing the computer screen? ROFL...yeah not an issue. My pillow on the other hand...LOL I kid, I kid. LOL :D I'm so happy you like this story so far! I missed you. :D

******Cookie -** Aww you are all sweetness. ILY Rose. ...hearts... I guess we'll see if it remains your fave. Keep me posted. :D

******Lady Light -** I am too. :3 Muahahaha. He doesn't deserve her yet. LOL.

******michelle88222 -** OMG I LOVE IT that you said mind tantrum. Like...ROFLMAO...OMG that is so priceless! I totally laughed for days. XD

******asuna11 -** You're so sweet with all your support. Thank you so much! I really do appreciate it a lot. :D I hope school isn't killing you. :D

******Kurosaki Razhel -** "Erhmergerd. I officially love this story." Erhmergerd. I officially love you. So awesome. XD Sorry this update was laggy. I had pneumonia all month. D:

******yukina-chan15 -** I love it that you mentioned they have decisions to make. Hence, the title of the fanfic. It is all about decisions. :D

******lechat23 -** I love it that you said victim of an arranged marriage. That really made me ROFL. I have friends that it all worked out for, so hehehe... I do think that would have made me insane if my parents did that to me though. D; So I hear ya...lol ;D

******silverstargazer**** -** Yay so happy to hear it. Thank you :D

******ILoveSxS -** " You are the queen of RyoSaku fanfics! I will forever stay loyal to you." Aww...I love you. I'm totally not, but I love you for saying so anyway. xoxo


	4. Chapter 4

**Decisions**

By: Bunny

Rated: T

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Summary: Sakuno had been ready to give it all away to make her aging grandmother happy until she found out who else was involved. Ryoma simply didn't take rejection well. Or maybe there was more to it than that. RyoSaku.

Oh and I MUST give a big shout out to **Cookie**, my beta reader, who began beta reading for me with this fanfic! I hope you all enjoy the improvements to having her help!

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

Echizen Ryoma didn't get it.

He seriously didn't get it at all.

He was a good looking guy, right? All those girls weren't always trying to get his attention, and give him chocolates and bentos, and all sorts of other things for nothing, were they?

He was a cool guy, right? He was smart, he was good at sports, he knew a good joke when he heard one. He didn't have any weird or annoying habits that he knew of. He already had a steady source of income and a whole temple grounds and house in Tokyo to inherit someday.

As far as the wedding market went, he was quite a catch, _right?_

So why in the world wouldn't Ryuzaki Sakuno agree to marry him? Why was she so against their miai?

At first, when his old man had told him the miai was off, he had been shocked and wondered if it was because he wasn't good enough or if it was because she liked someone else. After thinking about it, he'd figured that probably wasn't the problem.

Sakuno probably just didn't want to force him into getting married. She was cool like that. That was why he liked her. So all he needed to do was make it clear to her that he was good with this whole arranged marriage thing and then that would be that. She'd agree to marry him and they would get married. Problem solved.

_Wrong._

After confronting her on the subject, he was more confused than ever. He'd expected her to be as happy about marrying him as he was to marry her. Seeing as how he was going to take care of her and solve all her problems, he was actually expecting her to be happier about it than he was, after he told her he wanted to marry her that is.

Instead, she'd gone from confused, to angry, to kind-of mean, then she'd been all nice before she'd finally shoved him away and ran off.

_What was that supposed to mean? _Were they getting married or what? Did she really not understand that he was _serious_ about marrying her?

Sakuno was going to get married if old Coach Ryuzaki had anything to say about it. His parents had pretty much laid it all out for him the other night after telling him that it was Sakuno they were arranging for him to marry.

The Coach wanted Sakuno married before she got too old to take care of her anymore. She wanted her to be safely settled down so that she wouldn't become a burden to her. At least, that's what his parents had said. It had sounded pretty serious to him. Which was fine. He had plenty of money to take care of the both of them. Once he went pro full time, he'd have more than enough money to take care of Sakuno _and _the Coach.

So the girl was going to get married and it would be soon. He had no doubt that with her yielding to the happiness of others personality that she would settle down with someone, maybe as early as right after her birthday next month.

She wasn't going to be able to find anybody better than him, was she? She had to get married soon, didn't she? So _why_ did she still say no?

He was really shocked that she'd fought him at all on the subject. She'd never resisted anything he'd said before. Granted, they'd never talked about a super serious subject like marriage in the almost six years they'd know each other either.

Still...

Something in his gut was telling him that Sakuno _would_ go so far as to get married if Coach Ryuzaki wanted her to. So why couldn't it be him?

_If she was going to get married, he'd be damned if she married anybody except him._

So he supposed that meant...

Game. On.

Oh...it was on. _It was so on._

_He would make Sakuno love him and marry him if it was the last thing he did._

Even if he had no idea how to go about doing that.

* * *

Ryuzaki Sakuno didn't know what to think.

Had her world flipped over on it's head this weekend? First Grandma is wanting to set up a miai for her. Next thing she knows Ryoma-kun is insisting that they get married, no matter how many times she says no. What was next? Tomo-chan was going to tell her something shocking like that she'd really hated her all her life? Horio-kun was going to say he was a n00b at tennis that had zero years of experience? Kachiro-kun and Katsuo-kun were going to start fighting all the time like Kaidoh-senpai and Momo-senpai used to?

She watched Ryoma warily as he entered their classroom a few minutes after she'd arrived, fearful that he would try to talk to her again. Thankfully, he took his seat that was only a few desks away from her and proceeded into his usual routine of laying his head on his desk to rest before their first morning lessons would begin.

Sakuno got out her cell phone and sent a quick text message to Tomoka.

_Tomo-chan...I need to talk to you about something important at lunch. Let's meet up right after the bell outside my classroom._

As she put her phone away, the bell rang and roll call began.

Hours later as the lunch bell rang, Sakuno grabbed her wallet and her phone and shot to her feet. Making a beeline for the doorway, she was stopped in her tracks by Ryoma calling out to her.

"Oi, Sakuno!"

Sakuno spun around in shock.

_Ryoma-kun hadn't just yelled to her across the classroom by her given name._

Their classmates all froze in their positions, even their teacher looked up in surprise. Goodness, it was suddenly so silent in their classroom one could have heard a pin drop.

Well you see, it was just that..._Echizen Ryoma_ simply_ doesn't yell across the room_ and he _never_ addresses _anybody_ by their _given_ name.

Sakuno could feel the heavy stares of everyone as Ryoma made his way across the room to catch up to her. Stopping a foot away from where she stood he said casually, "Let's have lunch together today."

Sakuno blinked. Oh...he was still there and this was really happening. She blinked again for good measure. Yup...still there. _This was really happening._

"O...kay," She finally said slowly.

He stepped forward and slung an arm over her shoulders as he turned her back around towards the doorway and led the way out of the classroom.

Sakuno heard the noise of her classmates discussing the event as they entered the hallway and bemoaned internally the questions she would be bombarded with later.

Nobody would ask Ryoma-kun anything because they knew better than to ask the tennis prince personal questions. Not only did one receive a blank stare, but they never got anything out of him. Those that persisted became victims of his sharp wit. He could make you cry if he wanted to make fun of you. Needless to say, trying to get information not being offered out of Echizen Ryoma was more painful than pulling teeth.

_She_ on the other hand was easy pickings. She would have no peace until the whole school was up in their business. How was she ever going to keep this silly miai business a secret from the whole school now?

"Ryoma-kun...what are you doing?" She asked lowly as they got a few feet away from the door.

"I just told you," He said.

She bit her lip to keep herself from screaming at him. Did he seriously not know what a stir he'd just created by calling out to her like that and then touching her in front of everybody!?

For that matter, _he was still touching her._ Every person in the hallway was staring at them!

"Sakuno!" Tomoka called as she ran up to them from behind. Quickly matching her pace with the couple she asked worriedly, "Is everything okay? Ryoma-sama, is Sakuno hurt? Are you taking her to the nurse's office?"

These being the naturally expected questions from Tomoka considering that like the rest of their schoolmates, she couldn't conceive of Echizen Ryoma touching anybody unless it was to assist them because they were hurt.

Sakuno turned her head away from the tennis prince to her friend that was now walking on her other side, "Tomo-chan. I'm okay. Ryoma-kun wanted to have lunch with us today."

Tomoka was surprised at her best friend's news, but squealed with delight all the same, "Lunch with Ryoma-sama! Awesome!"

Sakuno smiled while Ryoma scoffed under his breath.

"Wait a minute! I thought you wanted to talk-"

"SHHH!" Sakuno hissed abruptly.

Both of her walking companions gave her startled looks.

Embarrassed, she quickly covered it up, "Ah...Tomo-chan I just wanted to remind you that we're supposed to go to the music store after school today."

Her best friend forever didn't miss a beat and said, "Oh right! I did almost forget about that! I'm so glad you reminded me!"

Bless Tomo-chan for catching on to her ploy to keep the 'needing to have girl talk' away from Ryoma-kun so quickly.

They reached the lunchroom and Ryoma looked over Sakuno's head down at Tomoka, "Osakada-san, I want to have lunch alone today with Sakuno."

Tomoka's eyes widened at his words and she took a big step back. She sent a curious look Sakuno's way, who only gave the slightest shake of her head. Tomoka smiled up at Ryoma, "No problem, Ryoma-sama. I was supposed to share some notes with one of the girls for our next lesson anyway, so I'll head back to my class."

Sakuno desperately wanted to stop her, but Tomoka had ran off before she even had the chance to express herself. Ryoma told Sakuno to stay put for a minute as he braved the line and bought the two of them a couple of lunch breads.

As he left the lunchroom, he grabbed Sakuno's hand and pulled her outside. They walked around for a few minutes, hit up a vending machine for a couple of Pontas and then made their way over to the tennis courts. Sitting down on a bench by the courts, he set the food down between the two of them. He flipped open the tab on the grape Ponta and took a sip before he picked up one of the packaged breads.

Sakuno shivered a bit at the coldness from the bench as she sat down. Ryoma handed her the other bread and she thanked him. The two ate in silence for a few minutes.

About half way through his bread, Ryoma said, "I don't know how this works. Are you...my girlfriend now?"

Sakuno choked for a moment and then took a frantic swig from her cherry Ponta to wash her food down.

"Ryoma-kun-" She began warningly.

He locked eyes with her then, effectively stopping the speech she was about to launch into, "Don't I at least get a chance?"

Sakuno closed her eyes for a moment to break eye contact with him. A cool breeze hit them and she shivered again as the cold air whipped through her clothes.

_On second thought, it was cold outside today! Maybe winter had completely arrived._

Ryoma moved their cans of soda to the side and closed the distance between them on the bench, "You look cold."

She nodded and scooted a little closer to him as well. Part of her wanted to simply cuddle into his warmth, especially since it seemed he was offering.

_Oh, she would never get used to him acting like this._

Not that he hadn't always been a complete gentleman. However, before this morning's outrageous conversation he would have just escorted her back inside where it was warm, not _offered sharing body heat._

She didn't know if she should faint, or swoon, _or run for the hills._

"My parents said the coach wants to see you settled. If it's not me, then it's going to be someone, right?"

Sakuno wanted to shut him off like she could with a television or a radio. She didn't want to hear him talk about her love life so matter of factly. She didn't want to discuss her love life with Ryoma-kun at all actually! There was something _so wrong_ about hearing these things from him. Anybody else would be bad enough, but hearing it from Ryoma-kun was like living in her worst nightmare.

He knew too much and he was going to use that knowledge against her apparently. She cursed the day her grandmother and his father met, sealing the fates of their families being long time friends. Anybody else wouldn't have had such inside information on her family circumstances.

What were Auntie and Uncle thinking sharing it all with Ryoma-kun? _Were they trying to embarrass her for the rest of her life?_

Ryoma nudged her and she realized she hadn't answered his question yet.

With a grievous sigh into her lunch bread she muttered begrudgingly, "Probably."

He turned to look at her, and she tilted her head up to meet his eyes as he smirked down at her and said, "You know me best."

Sakuno rolled her eyes and looked away from him towards the tennis courts. Of course she knew him best of all the boys she knew. She easily spent twice the amount of time with him as she did with any other boys. That wasn't the point of a miai though, and he knew that just as much as she did. She didn't see his point.

He jabbed her in the side with his elbow none too gently and said, "Take this seriously."

She glared at the tennis court at his jab and ranted, "_I did, _Ryoma-kun, and _I said no._ This morning, I said no _a few times._ I don't know how else to tell you no so that you understand that _I mean no._ It's not going to work, so it's not going to happen."

He scoffed at her heated speech and quickly rebutted, "You like me the best. Otherwise we wouldn't have stayed together all these years."

Sakuno stood up and spun on her heel to face him. Looking down at him with fire in her eyes as he sat there on the bench, giving her a challenging look as if daring her to call him a liar.

"That's completely besides the point!"

Ryoma shook his head, "Mada mada dane, Sakuno."

She leaned over him and said lowly, "Please understand me. I can't marry you!"

Before she had the opportunity to turn and run away from him again, Ryoma grabbed her wrist and yanked her down into his lap. She made a slight protesting sound as she floundered onto him and finally grabbed at his shoulders to regain her balance. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pinning her in his lap and said into her ear, "I don't believe you."

"That is Ryoma-kun's problem," She muttered back sourly.

What could she do to get him to stop it already?

"So who do you want to marry?" He asked.

Sakuno deflated at his question, "I don't know. Someone I don't know."

Ryoma muttered something under his breath in English and then repeated blandly, "Someone you don't know."

Sakuno wilted as the reality of her situation started to hit her. It was one thing to talk about things with her grandmother hypothetically and make promises when there was no face or name attached to a potential marriage mate. It was another thing to seriously consider getting married anytime soon, especially to some unknown person. For all she knew she could end up in a bad situation. It could be worse than someone she already knew, but all the boys she already knew...well, it just couldn't work...could it? As impossible as marrying Ryoma-kun would be, marrying any of their previous senpai was just as bad in another way. Her thoughts quickly travelling from frustrated to depressed, she unconsciously dropped her head onto Ryoma's shoulder and let out a big sigh.

"I don't want to get married," She finally whispered.

"At all?" Ryoma asked.

She nodded into his neck in answer, moving Ryoma's school uniform coat up and down against her cheek.

"Ever?" He asked.

She let out a small chuckle as she shook her head. "Well, _of course I want to someday, _just not right now. Ryoma-kun knows, I haven't even dated before. Getting married..." She trailed off, unsure how to put into words how she felt about it.

"Me too," He said, surprising her.

"You don't want to get married?" She asked.

He gave a huff of amusement, his chest bouncing against Sakuno's body moving her away slightly for a second. "I never thought about it until my parents told me about the miai."

Sakuno giggled, "This doesn't surprise me. Ryoma-kun only thinks about tennis!"

Ryoma's eyes looked away from the deserted dewy tennis courts and shifted to the side to look down at the side of her face as a wry smirk ghosted across his lips, "Un."

Sakuno giggled some more, moving her face into his chest she took a deep breath to stop giggling. Getting serious for a moment she said lightly, "Thank you for cheering me up. Ryoma-kun is a good friend."

His chest heaved with a deep breath and he tugged her outer leg closer to him, forcing her whole body to shift into his chest. Her side moved into him so that there was no distance remaining, "I want to take care of you."

She wrapped the arm closest to him around the back of his shoulders then and said with a confidence that she didn't feel she had, "I'll be okay."

With that, she pushed down on his shoulders and moved off of his lap, standing once again above him. Ryoma quickly stood up as well. As she turned back towards their school building to get inside before the bell rang his hand shot out and grabbed hers. Sakuno twisted her upper body around to look back at him, her head tilted to the side in confusion.

"I'm not giving up, Sakuno."

Her gasp was lost in the sound of the warning bell that lunch was almost over. Ryoma tugged her towards him and wrapped her up in a tight hug. She hugged back for a second as a tear escaped her eye, her heart breaking with want of something that she felt was really not truly hers, but rather a product of circumstance. Then she took a large step back and pushed against his chest hard, effectively putting him off balance so that he was forced to step away so that he didn't fall down. Wiping the tears now collected in her eyes off her face, Sakuno spun on her heel and dashed back into the school building.

* * *

Yay for another update! :D Feels good to be working on my fanfic updates again. I'm finally almost fully recovered from my pneumonia. :D Well then next update will probably be the next chapter of _The Friend Zone_. Love you all. xoxo

Thank you to all that left a review since chapter 3: **ILuvAGdFanfic, asuna11, bowlfullofcherries, AnimeObsessedGirl, Unokahel, yuri-chan021, nekonomiko, Saphire122, heartluv, sandra x2, LollipopLawliet, yukina-chan15, yana19, aryaputra x3, DaphneAnimeGirl, Cookie, silverstargazer, RikuDai, Kurosaki Razhel, Abstract Obsessions, shajira, cityangelz, lechat23, Foureyesfreak27, LolaTheSa, SinfulEmerald, JC-zala, D'cute, sweetgirl123, cloudgoddess, Lady Light, ILoveSxS, Tnt24tryon, eeriesonata, reader713, SaKuRiMo0n, **and** michelle88222.**

******ILuvAGdFanfic** - I like coconut water out of the coconut too! Yep, I've been resting a lot and I think I'm going to be all better soon! :D

******asuna11 -** It made me so happy to hear you read my fanfics with your friends! I love it so much! That's soooo fun! Never tried to get published, haven't had any interest and I'm not that good of a writer anyway. :)

******bowlfullofcherries** - Thank you :D

******AnimeObsessedGirl** - Trying to update ASAP. Love the excitement! ;D

******Unokahel -** heheh :D Thank you so much! I loved hearing all your comments and feedback. Well, Sakuno is a little older in this story, so naturally she's going to have a little more confidence and sense than she did as a twelve year old, since that's only natural. (And Ryoma will too for that matter.) I do enjoy writing them a little older with more grown-up tendencies. :D

******yuri-chan021 -** Happy to hear you're enjoying dense stubborn Ryoma. :D

******nekonomiko -** So happy to hear you're enjoying this story and thank you for the get well wishes. :D

******Saphire122 -** Yay! I love it that you said you could actually see this happening. How fun is that? :D Thank you so much!

******heartluv -** He is bold, isn't he? Gotta love those bold boys, am I right or am I right? XD

******sandra x2 -** Yay! So happy you're so excited to read more.

******LollipopLawliet -** A whirlwind of emotions? Awesome! :D I love that you enjoy the idealism of Sakuno's and Ryoma's stubborn determination. :D So crazy to hear it's already one of your faves! Wow! By all means rant away about feels all you want. :D I'll have to check out that manga. Thank you I'm feeling better with each day (most days.)

******yukina-chan15 -** Yes she is. Thank you. :D

****** yana19 -** Yes well I think because of the sushi shop Kawamura seems like the "safe" type of choice, which is why I like to mention him in these type of situations. So happy to hear you enjoyed the RyoSaku time so much last chap! :D

******aryaputra x3 -** Yay for hot! Especially without kissing! I love it! ;D

******DaphneAnimeGirl -** Hehehehe so happy you enjoyed the RyoSaku scene so much!

******Cookie -** Yay Cookie-chan for possessive Ryoma. ;D

******silverstargazer -** Aww I love it that you're so hooked, but I'm sorry for keeping you from your studies. D: xoxo

******RikuDai -** So happy to hear you enjoyed (and found funny and different) Ryoma's persistence.

******Kurosaki Razhel -** So happy to hear you enjoyed chap 3 so much! Yay! xoxo

******Abstract Obsessions -** Aww your heart skipped a beat when you heard I had pneumonia? Awww. Don't worry I'm not gonna die on ya yet! hehe. Thank you so much for all your sweet kind words and I do love to talk with all you readers so thank you for joining in on the discussion after years of reading! I love it. ;D xoxo

******shajira -** Thank you so much for sharing your fave lines & parts of chap 3 with me. I smiled so huge. :D

******cityangelz -** I love that you're looking forward to the wooing process. :D I grinned like crazy. :D

******lechat23 -** I just love how many of you are using the word woo and pursue. I love it! Yep I can imagine a miai being a scary thing. :) Better in fiction of course! :D

****** Foureyesfreak27** - LOL! I know, right? :D

******LolaTheSa** - Hmm yeah she's just an idealist.

******SinfulEmerald** - I love it that her feeling old feelings resonated with you. :D Thank you for sharing that! YAY for squealing at Ryoma's opener! :D I love that his "pretty enough and not annoying" line got you! :D I love that you get so many feels thank you x million. ;D Yay for loving one-liners. XoxoxOxoXOXOXOXOX :D

******JC-zala -** I love it that you understand Sakuno's feelings. I think this is one of those scenarios where depending on each person they could easily go either way. Sakuno seems to me like more of an idealist for love, so this made sense to me as to why she would deny the marriage with Ryoma. Also this: "Ryoma has to realize that matters of the heart are important, especially to a girl." SO WELL SAID. :D

******D'cute -** It's true she needs to tell him that. She didn't because he really threw her off guard. You know in an odd conversation you don't always say the best thing. :D

******sweetgirl123 -** Isn't he? It's why we love him though. :D

******cloudgoddess -** So happy to hear you enjoy arranged marriage stories. I kind-of always wanted to write one, and finally got the idea for this kind-of different spin on it. So happy that you're enjoying the plot twist so much! ;D

******Lady Light -** Hehehe...she didn't cave in...but only because she loves Ryoma so so much. Poor guy won't know what's going to hit him!

******ILoveSxS -** YAY! So happy to hear it!

******Tnt24tryon -** I've never thought of publishing, no. I don't think I write well enough for that. :/ This has always just been a guilty pleasure-fantasy hobby for me. I don't know if I could write a normal romance novel. Maybe some day I'll try. No idea. :D Thank you for the high compliments all the same. :) I'll try to let you know if I ever do something original, who knows maybe one day I'll get some weird idea. :D

******eeriesonata -** Yes he is forever dense. ;D lololol.

******reader713 -** ROFL. Omg...totally!

******SaKuRiMo0n -** Hehe, it's so true!

******michelle88222 -** So happy Ryoma is driving you crazy I think that's a good thing? :D lol ;D

* * *

Okay everybody see you on the next update! xoxo Bunny


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